CIVIL WAR PATRIOTIC TOKENS, SUTLER
TOKENS (EXONUMIA) AND STORE CARDS:Regular issue US coinage was hoarded during the Civil
War restricting merchants ability to make small change. Some merchants had
tokens made to give out as change in their stores. If you ordered the least
expensive tokens you would receive a combination of two existing dies, usually
of a patriotic nature or similar to a US cent, these are called Civil War
Patriotic Tokens. Civil War Sutler Tokens were a special kind of
Store Card that was issued by sutlers who supplied the Union Army. If you had
more to spend you could have one or two dies custom made for you with
information specific to your business (i.e. location, occupation, specialties,
etc.) these are Civil War Store Cards.RARITY RATINGS:The rarity scale for Civil War tokens is listed
below. Most collectors collect by town, merchant or die. Very few try to get
one of each die combination and metal composition. So value is determined more
by supply and demand than by individual rarity. Additionally, more than a few
pieces have incorrect rarity ratings (both over and under rated) in current
references due to outdated information, hoards, mistakes or typo's.

R1 Very Common more than 5,000
estimated

R6 Very Scarce 20 to 74 estimated
to exist

R2 Common 2,000 to 4,999 estimated
to exist

R7 Rare 10 to 19 estimated to exist

R3 500 to 1,999 estimated to exist

R8 Very Rare 5 to 9 estimated to
exist

R4 200 to 499 estimated to exist

R9 Extremely Rare 2 to 4 estimated
to exist

R5 Scarce 75 to 199 estimated to
exist

R10 Unique only one estimated to
exist

COMPOSITION OF CIVIL WAR TOKENS:Civil War tokens were manufactured in a number of
different metallic compositions as well as rubber. In the cataloging of these
tokens the composition is indicated by a lower case letter at the end of the
Fuld
number. The following is a
list of the codes used.